Marked by Death (The Godhunter, Book 4) (6 page)

“
No,” Horus looked at me like he was about to offer his condolences. “You'll live by his whim. He will have your soul and even if he chooses to give it back to you, he will have strings in you, like a puppet master. Once that cold is complete, you will no longer own your life. It will be his.”

The silence was thick, weighty, but for me, full of screaming. In my head, this constant scream of denial was ringing out, blocking out all thought, blocking out almost everything. I almost didn't hear Persephone when she spoke.

“Demeter might know how to reach him,” Persephone’s sweet face had lost some of the innocence she’d had when I'd first met her but it had been replaced with something strong and beautiful.

I was proud of how far she’d come. Standing up to Demeter and moving in with Hades, her husband, was a huge step for her but I was worried that this latest battle, in which she’d finally seen the depth of her mother's cruelty, had done a number on her. She’d surprised us all by attacking Demeter, surprised us even further by winning the fight, but I think a part of Persephone died that day. The little girl was gone forever.

I mourned the loss of her innocence but I was relieved that she finally knew the truth about Demeter. Persephone's mother had raped and tortured Kirill, caused numerous difficulties in my life, including the loss of my friendship with Blue, had almost succeeded in killing Trevor, did succeed in killing one of my lions, and then she went after Hades. Everything else, Persephone could have forgiven but trying to kill your daughter's husband can be detrimental to the mother-daughter bond. Persephone had named Demeter her enemy.

Was it wrong of me that I was relieved?

“Do you think she’d tell you if she did?” I knew how much Demeter hated me, blaming me completely for her daughter’s defection, and somehow I didn’t think she’d be inclined to help us.

“
I don’t know,” Persephone shrugged. “She’s been trying to talk to me and I keep ignoring her, so she may give me the info just to try to get on my good side.”

“
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask,” I nodded. “Thanks, Sephy.”

“
No problem,” she smiled and for a second the old Sephy was back.

“
There’s nothing else we can do about my issue,” I looked back at Teharon, the Mohawk God who always patched me up when things went wrong. “Right, Teharon?”

“
I can’t heal you any further,” He shook his head, making his mass of stick-straight black hair shimmer over his shoulders. “You’re not wounded, you ensorcelled and it’s deeper than any possession I’ve ever seen. He’s attached to your very cells, pulling  on you slowly but effectively. I can’t push him out like I did with Huitzilopochtli but something must be done. That cold is spreading and I’m not sure what will happen when it takes over completely. I’ll do some research but I think the best course of action right now is for everyone to keep alert. Keep taking those sleeping pills at night, Vervain, and try not to be alone when you’re awake.”

“
Alright,” I took a deep breath, “now how about something to get our minds off this?” I explained what was happening with the drugs in Hawaii, who was behind it, and who had come to ask for help. “Does anyone know if this is true? She seemed honest enough but I don’t want to attack anyone without being certain.”

“
Too bad Blue’s gone bad again, he’s Aztec but he might have had some insight into a Mayan god.” Brahma, the slick Hindu god who looked more like a Bollywood star, bit his lip in thought.

“
I’ve heard rumors about a god in Mexico running drugs but I always thought it was just that… rumors,” Pan’s charming curls were falling into his face, exposing the little horns they otherwise hid. He had a shirt on that advertised his porn company, Naughty Nymphs. Beneath the words, a naked nymph with strategically placed leaves smiled suggestively.

“
It’s true,” we all turned to stare at Finn when he spoke. He shrugged, his bright green eyes meeting ours. “I used to travel a lot in my swan form and one of the places I flew over was Mexico.”

Finn was actually Fiachra, one of the children of Lir who were turned into a swan by their Aunt. I won’t go into the whys of it but thankfully he and his siblings found a way to conquer the magic and shift back to human. Now they had a choice of forms. Unfortunately, he didn't have any other cool god powers, just the bird thing. Oh and immortality, that was pretty cool, I guess.

“And you saw Acan?” I pressed.

“
Yeah, I’ve seen him,” he brushed a stray lock of black hair out of his eye. “He has a place way back in the jungle. I only noticed because he had a plane load of cocaine heading out when I was passing over one time and his magic was surrounding it, protecting it.”

“
So you know where he is,” hell, this might be easier than I thought. The old thrill was starting to race through my veins, pushing out my worries.

“
Yep, as long as he hasn’t moved in the past ten years,” Finn smiled. “I doubt he’d give up that place though. It was something special.”

“
So what do you guys think?” I looked around the room. “Wanna go hunt a drug lord with me?”

Chapter Eight

Finn was right; Acan’s home was something special. It was a palatial expanse of pure white stone, shining out of the thick foliage like a pearl on green velvet. It had two stories and a tower going up three. Long terraces ran along the upper floor, many with bright colored curtains flowing out of open glass doors. Behind the house was a manicured lawn, an Olympic sized pool, and rows of roses. Men scurried about everywhere, the sounds of their voices mixing with the call of exotic birds and monkeys.

I crouched on a hill beside Pele, wearing a set of camis instead of my normal fighting gear. I still had all my usual weapons though, including my gloves with the retractable blades that functioned like claws… once belonging to Ku. I wasn’t much of a fan of guns, it being hard to decapitate a person with a firearm and decapitation being the only way to kill a god, but I was starting to appreciate that there might be a use for them. Mainly, in situations involving humans.

Then Mr. T attacked.

Estsanatlehi and her husband Tsohanoai, were Navajo gods. Mr. T was a sun god and the Mrs. could bring the rain. I thought that was splendidly harmonious. They were the best with weather magic, which Mr. T wielded on the men unlucky enough to be outside. He basically roasted them on super speed, till they passed out from the heat. Quick, effective, and quiet. I loved it.

“
Alright,” I looked over at the others, “let’s go.”

Invading Acan’s compound was mind bogglingly easy. He obviously hadn't planned on a god attack, concerned only with competing humans We rushed over the remaining guards, dispatching them with fists, blades, and magic, before spreading out and rousting Acan like a bull in a pen. We ushered him into a living room, surrounding him on all sides in case he tried to run.

“What do you want?” His eyes darted over all of us.

“
I want my people back,” Pele hissed and lunged for him.

Acan lurched away but she was too quick for him. In a second, he was dangling off the floor in the grip of a woman who towered over him. Pele’s eyes were filling with fire, as Acan’s were with fear, and the little Mayan whimpered like a dog.

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” he trembled. “I don’t even know who your people are.”

“
I am Pele,” she stared at him like he was insane not to recognize her. “I am the Goddess of Fire and of the Volcano. You’ve poisoned my people for long enough.”

“
You won’t stop the drug use by killing me,” Acan whined. “People are addicted, all types of people, and the amount of sacrifice I get daily is overwhelming. Join me and I’ll share it with you. There’s more than enough for all of us.” He looked around at the circle of gods hopefully.

“
Do you really think I’d abandon my people and take up with the likes of you?”

Smoke started to rise from where she held Acan’s shirt but something he said had caught my attention. The power, he was acting way too weak for a god absorbing mass amounts of power on practically a daily basis.

“
Pele!” I jumped forward as I caught the flash of magic in his eyes.

I knocked her out of the way as a bright gold shimmer faded into the floor where she’d been standing. Acan laughed and as he did so, he was surrounded with golden light. I reached into my pocket for a handful of powdered rosemary, beginning a chant of protection.

“You have no idea how much power I have,” Acan reached out with both hands and sent waves of energy streaming toward Pan and Trevor.

Instinctively I threw the powder towards Trevor and finished the spell, hoping Pan could survive on his own. The gold wave was absorbed by the protective sphere around Trevor but Pan wasn’t able to deflect it. It hit him full blast, knocking him to the floor and tearing screams from him.

Teharon ran over to Pan and I caught a flash of seeping wounds going all the way down Pan’s arms before I gave my attention back to Acan. Track marks, my brain registered with horror. He was attacking us with the sickness of his merchandise. I launched myself at him and Trevor snarled as he changed into a wolfman.

My metal claws were out and they cut through my target like a perfectly baked potato, thick skin splitting to reveal the soft inside. The thought made my stomach rumble and brought my lioness to the surface. What went better with a baked potato than steak? I roared into Acan’s face and saw the first flicker of real fear in his eyes.

As I set myself to the task of clawing him up as badly and as quickly as possible, Odin and Brahma caught hold of Acan’s hands with their magic. Acan may have been powerful but in the end, he was no match for the entire God Squad. All of my friends closed in, really ticked now that one of our own had been injured, and soon Acan was bound up tighter than a goth girl's corset.

I backed off, pleased with the damage I’d wrought, and sent a quick look over my shoulder at Pan. He was fine, healed and standing. He gave me a quick wink. No hard feelings then. I gave an inward sigh of relief. It was hard to choose amongst your friends but when it came down to a friend or my lover, there really was no choice. I was thankful Pan understood.

“How about we let our host show us around?” I asked as I got a grip of the ropes holding our prisoner. “We could start with the storage rooms.”

“
Sounds fascinating,” Pele nodded with smug satisfaction and took Acan from me. “Where are the drugs?”

“
The tower,” he grimaced.

Pele almost looked disappointed that she didn't have to torture the information out of him. She contented herself with shoving him out of the room though. We followed them down a long, airy corridor, marble floor echoing with the thumping of our boots and the sweet scent of jungle flowers flowing in on the breeze. The place looked like a resort. I half expected to see a waiter walk in carrying a tray laden with margaritas.

Pele pushed open the door at the end of the hallway and shoved Acan through. By the sound of the muffled grunt, he didn't catch himself in time. Sure enough, when I made my way into the room, it was to find him rolling ignominiously on the ground. Pele hadn't thought to pick him up, she was too busy staring at the hundreds of crates taking up most of the floor.

I walked past her and lifted the lid on one of them. Inside were white blocks wrapped in plastic and tape. A second crate yielded a similar product but the third one held shimmering blocks of blue. I could see sparkles glowing through the outer wrapping. I picked one up and held it in a ray of sunlight. The little shimmers caught the light like jewels.

“You mother fucker!” Trevor pulled the still struggling Acan to his feet and slammed him into a wall. Plaster rained down around them and Acan seemed to become a part of the masonry for a second. Trevor pulled him out and revealed a drug lord shaped dent. Then he punched Acan and the much smaller man went flying into a crate.

“
What am I missing?” I asked Odin, who was standing near me, looking like he was waiting his turn at the guy.

“
That's Net,” he said before pressing his lips together in a grim line.

“
Net?” I frowned. “Like the god-drug Balder used on me?”

“
The very same,” Odin smiled grimly and I looked over to see Trevor's hand around Acan's throat. The Mayan's face was turning blue.

“
Do
not
kill him,” Pele interrupted and Trevor looked at her like she'd lost her damn mind. “That is my right. Tell him, Godhunter.”

“
She did say that all we needed to do was clear the way,” I shrugged. “She said she would handle Acan.”

“
Drop him,” she demanded. When Trevor looked as if he would argue, she raised a hand. “He will be punished but first I would know if this is his only cache.”